|
CARICOM to help Grenada and Jamaica
•
Jeanne provokes two deaths in
Puerto Rico, Ivan threatens the United States and
Javier Mexico
PORT OF
SPAIN, September 15.—Leaders of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) are today discussing a emergency
program to help Grenada and Jamaica, both devastated
by Hurricane Ivan, which left close to 70 people
dead in its route throughout the region, while
similar phenomena are threatening the Puerto Rico,
the United States and Mexico, respectively,
according to the international cable agencies.
According to
a report from the Caribbean organization, the
meeting will serve to agree a fixed sum of financial
aid prioritizing the recovery of Grenada, whose
capital was devastated by the hurricane.
The CARICOM
aid will be added to supplies that last Sunday began
to arrive by boat from various points in the capital
of that island, where nine out of every 10 buildings
were destroyed.
Jamaica,
likewise badly affected by Ivan’s rains and wind, is
to receive monetary support as soon as a report
detailing the damage is available. Preliminary
estimates have recorded at least 12,000 people
affected.
JEANNE, JAVIER AND IVAN
THREATENING
At least two
people died yesterday and another was injured in
Puerto Rico as a result of tropical storm Jeanne,
according to the police and reported by EFE.
A woman and
her husband were lying in a hammock tied to the main
girder of their zinc-roofed house. A sudden gust of
wind tore off the roof and hurled the couple into
the air. The woman died as a result of her injuries.
The other
fatality was a man of 28 who died in the center of
the island after losing control of his vehicle in
the intense rain brought by the storm.
For its
part, Hurricane Javier was today located 389
kilometers southwest of Cape Corrientes, facing the
coast of the western state of Jalisco. It is
predicted to continue in a north northwesterly
direction according to the Mexican National
Meteorology Service, Xinhua reports.
The
hurricane, currently a category four on the
Saffir-Simpson scale, is moving at seven kilometers
per hour with winds of 230 kilometers per hour and
gusts of 285, according to the source.
Its presence
provoked heavy rainfall in the mid-Pacific Mexican
states and it should maintain a course parallel to
the coast.
Meanwhile,
Hurricane Ivan forced the evacuation of hundreds of
thousands of people in the New Orleans area
yesterday, while the mayor urged those left to take
refuge in high buildings as the cyclone is
threatening to flood the area, Reuters cables.
The
authorities have called on millions of people living
along the 654-kilometer U.S. coast of the Gulf of
Mexico to leave their homes.
Ivan is
threatening to raise the sea level by up to 4.9
meters above normal, the authorities have announced.
|
